Modern automotive vehicles commonly include a sunroof opening formed in the roof and also typically include a headliner for covering the inner surfaces of the roof so as to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the passenger compartment. The headliner for vehicles having a sunroof includes an opening allowing access to the sunroof from the passenger compartment.
Often a trim ring is installed into the opening formed in the headliner to provide a more finished appearance to the peripheral edge of the opening. The trim ring is attached to the headliner through the use of a number of attachments which compress the headliner between an outwardly extending flange and a snap lid. An elongated leg extending from the flange of the trim ring having a barb disposed at a distal end, is known as a snap post, is positioned on either side of the snap lid to snap lock the headliner between the flange and the trim ring snap lid.
In order to increase the production efficiency during the assembly of the automotive vehicle, the trim rings are attached to the opening of the headliner in advance of the attachment of the headliner to the roof of the automotive vehicle. By previously attaching the trim rings to the headliner, the installation time required to install the headliner is significantly reduced as all that is required is to attach the headliner to the roof of the automotive vehicle. However, a problem arises during the installation of the headliner.
As the headliner is installed it is often inadvertently subjected to bending, flexing and/or twisting stresses which are consequently transferred to the previously attached trim ring. Due to the stress imposed on the trim ring, the snap posts are liable to detach from the snap lock engagement with the snap lid, thereby, unattaching the trim ring from the headliner. Production efficiency is reduced as the installation process of the headliner must be stopped, and the trim must be reattached to the opening prior to the installation of the headliner.
It is known in the art to provide the snap posts with a gusset extending between the flange and the snap post to counteract the detachment of the trim ring during the installation of the headliner. However, the currently used gussets offer poor snap post reinforcement as the trim ring is still liable to detach from the headliner during installation. Thus, there exists a need for an improved trim ring having a reliable snap post support structure to reinforce the snap post in locking engagement with the snap lid during the installation of the headliner.